Some Pre-Reunion Fun in NJ

In preparation for the upcoming reunion, we were lucky enough to have some members of our family come to NJ to see us.  Jeri and her family came in on the same day that we went to JFK airport to pick up Steph.  We all arrived within about 20 minutes of each other and had a wonderful evening together.  Jeri's family had visited Philadelphia that day so the girls jumped in the pool with Evan and swam for a while.  Then we got cheese steaks, corn on the cob, and Rita's Water Ice and had a very nice picnic.  The weather was great which made it a perfect night to be outside.  Here are some of the photos we took while they were here.

Lounging by the pool - Steve, Spencer, Jeri, and Steph

Evan, Hannah, and Olivia in the pool - they were in for a long time!!!!

Megan and Karsten in the pool

He loved it.....

..and that delicious Jersey Corn!!!

We also gave him a taste of some cake that the Egberts had bought at Reading Terminal Market and a little Rita's Water Ice.....which he loved, as well.

But....this was his face when Mommy told him that was all.

Jeri and I before heading off to church the next morning.

Yes, we DID carefully coordinate our outfits.  :)

This photo was taken at our ward that day.....I'm gonna go out on a limb and say

that Philadelphia took it out of them, what do you  think?

Jeri, Frank and kids had to leave right after Sacrament meeting to get on their way to DC.  Frank served his mission there and they were meeting up with a family there later that day.  But thankfully, we still got to spend time with Karsten and Stephanie.  What a cutie!!!  It was so fun to watch him walk around holding on to the furniture or anything else that would get him from here to there.

"Look at me not holding on, Grandma"

Spending time with Mom and Evan in the pool

..oh, and Evan's friend Ayden.

Taking in a little TV with Aunt Meg.....

....and reading some books with Mommy

On Tuesday, Aunt Emily and cousin Jimmie came to visit.  Yay!!!!

These two were so fun to watch.  Jimmie is a great walker which Karsten was not quite sure about.

Jimmie looks less than sure about the situation, here.  :)

And Ginny (which sounds a lot like Jimmie, by the way) just 

tried her best to stay out of everyone's way.  Sometimes 

she was successful  :)

"Hey, Grandma, this is a pretty cool tub!"

Proud Mamas - Emily and Stephanie

Some time in the swing....

...This is fun, Grandma!!!

Jimmie and Aunt Meg on the big swing...so much fun!!!!!

Happy little guys!!!

Some Random June/July Happenings

So we had some fun events during the last two months that are documented with only a photo or two that I wanted to mention.  Here are a few.

Meg's roommates from Virginia came up for a few days to visit before Jinnie went on her mission.  Here are Stephanee, Jinnie, Austin and Meg hanging out in the family room 

One of the goodies that Evan received from Brother Jarema at Cub Fun Day was a hydrogen rocket.  Sooo we got to go try it out at the school grounds.  It was pretty cool!!

Thanks Brother Jarema!!

Photo taken at Five Guys on the way home from the Medford Ward youth temple trip.

What a fun group!! 

Oh, and look where the potatoes for the french fries came from!!

This photo just doesn't do justice to the amazing sun shower that we had one day.

The sun was shining and the rain was just pouring....not a sight you see every day.

Well, this is pretty embarrassing. This is the only photo we got of Nate on his 17th birthday.  Can't believe he'll be a senior in high school this year.  By this time next year he should have a mission call and could actually be leaving.  Unbelievable!!!  BTW....love this guy!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATE!!!

In early July, my friend since 2nd grade came to visit NJ.  Her husband is from the Baltimore area and they were having a family reunion in Cape May.  We met and had lunch at a little dive of a place that had great seafood.  It was so fun to catch up with her.  Thanks for coming, Lynnel!!

Our yummy Independence Day Bread Pudding!!! 

Us in Philly for the 4th of July fireworks.....Spectacular!!!!

And this is the great group of guys who stayed at our house for Youth Conference last week. 

 It was a pleasure having them here!!

Sam, Jesse, Patrick, Nate, Michael, Mitch, and Keaton

Uncle Buck Comes Back to New Jersey

We were so excited to have my brother, Bruce, and his son, Chase come to visit for a day in June.  They were out here for a lacrosse tournament over Father's Day weekend so we got to spend Sunday night and Monday with them.  Chase wanted to check out some Philadelphia sites, so we headed out on Monday to check out the city.

Evan, Meg, Bruce and Chase

Me and my little brother

Evan, Meg and Chase at the Liberty Bell

Bruce, Chase, Meg, Ev, and Steve behind Independence Hall

So, here's a funny story.  We went to get some cheese steaks at Sonny's and who should we run into but Natalie and Cori - two ladies from our ward who had taken Sis. Bennett and Sis. Wood (the sister missionaries serving in our ward) to the city for a p-day adventure.  Well, we get talking, and find out that Bruce actually knows Sis. Bennett's parents really well and in fact, used to double date with her mom in high school.  He called her mom and sent a photo of him having lunch with her daughter.  Small world!!!

Here's Meg and Chase by the Betsy Ross house

Inside Independence Hall with our Ben Franklin look-alike guide

I beautiful day for checking out the sites

Inside Congress Hall

Evan and Chase getting ready to head up the Rocky (Art Museum) Steps

....and on the way back down.  

From there Bruce and Chase had to head to the airport.  

Thanks for coming to see us, guys.  We had a great time!!

Gotta Love Cub Scouts!!!

The end of the school year is a very busy time for Cub Scouts....especially when some of the activities usually done earlier in the year get pushed to May and June.  :)  But, bottom line is, any time cub scouts get together is a good time. Sure love this bunch!!

When Bishop Feuz was released as our bishop, we decided to make him a card and give him a little "Thank You" gift.  Here are the boys working on the card.

Part way through the activity, who should come in the door right by where we were working but Bishop Feuz.  The boys hurried to hide the card and then were able to make amazing small talk with Brother Feuz until he moved on to his scheduled meeting.  Phew!!!  The surprise was successful!!

In early June we held our Pinewood Derby with the Moorestown Ward at their building.  The boys were amazing sports and we had really fun refreshments and creative awards thanks to my sister, Jan.  For me, the best part was that all the winners were different from last year.  Fun night!!!

The boys with their cars

Dylan Tingey for the win!!

Check out the great candy car awards for each boy!! Loved them!!

Second place - Carter Scheimreif

Ayden Malone came in third

I forgot to take a photo of the treats, but they turned out so cute.  Thank you, Pinterest!!

 Here are some of the online photos to give an idea.  We also had some cute water bottles with a fuel logo that I made up.  The left overs water bottles can be seen in our Cub Fun Day photos below.  Fun times!!

Healthy Apple-Grape cars

Milky Way/Teddy Graham/M&M cars

Pretzel Traffic Lights

The day after school got out, we had a Cub Fun Day here at our house.  The stake did not sponsor a cub day camp this year, so we decided to have a full day of fun on our own.  The weather was perfect and I think all the boys had a wonderful time.  Thanks to Jim Jarema, Jason Scheimreif, Nathan, and Megan for all your help.  Even Evan said, "Great job, Mom!" at the end of the day.  :)

The boys learned how to fold a flag, and then Brother Jarema handed out a bunch of cool stuff to the boys.

The boys checking out their loot

I think they like their new stuff!!!

Nathan led the boys in various relays, basketball, and games

They were drenched with sweat when they were done!!!

The boys and Brother Scheimreif built a really cool marble track using a ladder, masking tape and pool noodles cut in half.  It was amazing!!

Teamwork!!

Megan (aka Pocahontas) came to visit and help with our Native American section.  We shared an Indian legend and learned some symbols for writing.  Each boy then made up a story that they shared and made a drum to put the story on.

Carter working on his story

Aidan sharing his

Ayden sharing a smile

Evan, busy at work

What a great group

Putting the drums together

And here's our little tribe

One of the other activities was to make sudsy snakes...very fun!!!

Didn't get a picture of swimming, hot dog and s'more cooking, or our exploding sandwich bags, but suffice it to say it was a way fun day!!!

Dylan was not able to attend our fun day, so a week or so later Evan had Dylan and Ayden over for a swimming play date.  Both Aidan and Dylan have now moved from our area and we will miss them both.  They have been wonderful additions to  our group.

Here is a great photo I took of Evan, Dylan, and Ayden.  

Love these guys!!